New Electric Scooter

I picked up my E-Scooter from Rick at the Volks Café at 1823 Soquel Avenue Wednesday the 16th and put the first 12 miles on it to take it home to Seacliff Beach. I had a loaner bike for a few days and liked it a lot. I was presently surprised to find my new bike to be much quicker in acceleration that the loaner with good speed (30 mph) on the flats and about 20-25 mph or so on slight uphills.

Cool Look





Wherever I go, people wave. Big guy, small scooter. When I park, people gather around and ask questions; usually where can they get one. More on that to come.

The bike design is striking and functional, sort of retro Vespa-like. You do need to plan excursions in advance because unlike other e-bikes, the Eco-Cruz has no pedals. Run out of juice and you will be pushing the scooter home. The AMP gauge in the instrument cluster does give you an easy-to-view display of remaining battery capacity.





The bike has a strong headlight with bright and low beam settings and is equipped with running lights, turn signals and indicator, brake light and speedometer in mph and kph. It is driven by a 1 kw drum motor in the rear wheel powerd by a 48 volt system. The scooter has 13" tires and front and rear drum brakes. It has two mirrors and is available in four flavors: strawberry, lemon, liquorice and blueberry.

The scooter comes with an AC to DC charger which fits under the seat. You can lock the seat while charging to keep it from getting ripped off. All you need to do is to run an extension cord from a wall socket to the charger plug.





In the rear luggage compartment you will find a shiny new helmet (required) and a custom vinyl cover to keep your new wheels nice and shiny,.

Performance: What to Expect

Although the scooter's brochure states a max speed of 22 mph and range of 22 miles, my flat speed varies between 25-30 mph (depending on the state of battery charge). I did the first re-charge at 30 miles and the battery was not fully discharged before charging it. Electric motors accelerate nearly instantly so you can impress your friends with a fast takeoff, but steep grades are another matter.

To optimize performance, my recommendation is to lose weight. At 245 pounds, my bike slows to a snail pace on steep uphills, but going down hill, watch out. These bikes are heavy and love to accelerate on the down slope. And just like a pedal bike or motor scooter or cycle, if you hit the front brake too hard or before applying the back brake, you could do a headstand on the handlebars. On a steep downgrade, I learned to slide my butt back on the seat, lean back, apply left brake first, then the right, then pump them both. Just don't allow the scooter to get away from you, brake early to maintain control.

If you have not ridden a bike for a while, you might want to take a bike safety class, which I did because I had to to get a subsidy voucher from the county, and to my surprise I learned a lot. These bikes are faster than most commuter pedal bikes and traffic permitting, I frequently move directly into the center of the lane. You have to do this if you want to turn left at intersections. These scooter are legally able to use the bike lane as well which is cool because you can zoom past a line of cars stopped at a signal light then blend into the flow if you can maintain reasonable speed.

Another thing to remember is to lean into turns and bank the bike. For some reason, the Vespa-like shape looks like it would prefer to stay vertical, but with practise you will get the hang of making turns with a little g-force. You might want to find a vacant parking lot and try some emergency stops and tight turns before you face the busy byways.

Did I mention that this bike is virtually silent. This allows the rider to clearly hear the seemingly never ending procession of back-up truck alarms that seem to characterize our urban soundscape. Also seagull squaks.

License, Registration, Insurance

No driver's license needed.
Registration is $17 at the DMV.
Proof of insurance is not required.

Price of Bike and Cost of Operations

The price is being adjusted but should be around $850. If you want to be notified once we have the price structure set, please send me an e-mail. Summer is coming and this scooter is a fun way to get around.

The brochure claims an average per charge cost of $.20. So with a conservative range of 20 miles, this works out to be a penny a mile. But check this out, our corporate partner, Innergy Power and I have just intalled a solar charging capability for my scooter. More about this in the next post.









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Solar Cell Phone Charger-Review Innergy Power 22W Solar Binder

Need to recharge your mobile phone where there is no place to plug in your charger? The Innergy Power 22W Solar Binder offers a convenient, reliable way to use sunshine to charge your cell phone or PDA.

Emergency Preparedness
Severe weather this winter downed power lines and caused prolonged power outages for millions of Americans. After the weather cleared in the Pacific Northwest and Midwest, it still took several days to restore electrical service. Recharging a phone under these conditions can pose a challenge, but if the sun is shining, a solar charger can get the job done. Beware though, that many solar chargers have small, inefficient collector surfaces that charge very slowly. The Innergy Power 22W Solar Binder sports a whopping four square feet of solar collector surface area cutting charging time considerably.



Sleek Design
The solar binder consists of three lightweight fiberglass solar modules packaged in a zippered, ballistic nylon case. When closed, it’s a slim attaché case with a comfortable handle and shoulder strap that makes the unit easy to tote. There’s also a side pouch where you can stash your cell phone, adapter cord and a first aid kit or other items.



The binder comes with a cigarette lighter receptacle at the end of a 10’ cord. Take it on a wilderness trip in your backpack and you will be able to stay in contact with the world you left behind if an emergency should arise.

How it Works
Operating the solar binder is a snap. Simply place it in a sunny spot, open the panels and plug in your cell phone or PDA using an auto power adapter. This winter with the sun at a relatively low angle to the horizon, I oriented the panels to maximize solar exposure by placing the open binder on a board resting on a pair of sneakers. You can place it flat on the ground or on your patio deck in the summer when the sun is higher.

As soon as sun hits the modules, they start generating electricity and the charging light on the cell phone glows green. There are no moving parts, no noise, and no mechanisms to wear out.

What Else You Need
If you don’t already have one, you will need an automobile power adapter cord and power tip to connect your specific model cell phone to the solar binder. You can buy them at most stores that sell cell phones or PDAs. The model I use is made by iGo and it lets me plug my cell phone into my car’s cigarette lighter. You can also order one for your specific phone from iGo.com. Mine cost about $40.



What to Expect
The time needed to fully recharge your mobile phone or PDA depends upon the amount of solar energy available, which in turn depends upon latitude, time of day, season and the amount of cloud cover. I did performance testing using a Sony Ericsson T610 in December on the deck of my apartment on the Central California Coast. Lux levels were recorded hourly.

Test 1 was initiated on 12/19/06 at 11:30 AM under clear skies. Lux levels ranged from 86,500 to 98,000 with a mean of 93,250. Charge time was three hours.

Test 2 was initiated on 12/20/06 at noon under high cirrus clouds. At 3:30 PM the sky was overcast and the test was halted. It rained over the next two days. The test was resumed at 12:15 PM on 12/23/06 under overcast conditions. Over the entire test period, lux ranged from 9,800 to 88,000 with an overall average of 49,496. Total charge time was 5.5 hours.

Conclusions: On a clear winter day, my cell phone was fully charged in three hours. The charge time rose to 5.5 hours under overcast conditions.

How Much it Costs
The 22W solar binder is priced around $170. You can also add an auxiliary battery, which lets you to capture and store solar energy during the daytime then charge your cell phone at night, for around $100.

Coolness Factor
Using the Innergy Power 22W Solar Binder charger makes the case that you support energy conservation and you are doing your part to reduce global warming. Definitely cool; maybe someday we will all be Talking on Sunshine(TM).



All Rights Reserved. This article was written by Dr. Ron S. Nolan and edited by Michael H.D. Dormer. You may use this article but it must contain this exact resource text and the links must remain viable. Details and specifications about the Innergy Power 22W Solar Binder. More information about solar technology and solar products can be found on http://www.solarmetro.com.


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Next Review Innergy Power Solar Binder/Power Plant Bundle

We have been experimenting with this system for over a month and it is awesome. You can check the specs out at www.solarmetro.com/innergybundle22w.htm

We should be finished in time to order for Christmas!

We are also taking the electric bike class on November 8th and will keep you posted as the Solar Metron Angels hist the back roads of Santa Cruz County.

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